The text which I have chosen to write about through the course of this essay is “The Freedom of the City” by Brian Friel. This play was first showed in February 1973, a year after the events of Bloody Sunday. It is quite clear from reading this play that Friel uses the events of that fateful day as his inspiration. Bloody Sunday is an event which lives on in the memories of many people and occurred during the height of the “Trouble’s” in Northern Ireland. This event occurred on the 30th of January 1972 in the City of Derry. A civil rights demonstration was taking place on the streets; the purpose of the march was to protest against internment. The protest had been mostly peaceful; however a group of youths began to throw stones at the soldiers.
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It is fair to say that the events of “Bloody Sunday” played a huge part in the writing of this play, and impacted the context of the play. The play itself revolves around three characters, Skinner, Michael and Lily all of whom are part of a civil rights march. From the opening of the play we know the fate of these characters, they are killed and we see them strewn lifelessly across the stage. We learn that these three peaceful marchers had made their way, mistakenly into the Mayor’s office in Guildhall. We learn that the protestors had been hit by tear gas and smoke and so they unsuspectingly make their way into Guildhall not realising how detrimental this will end up being. The innocence of these three protestors is an attempt at portraying the utter innocence of the victims of that fatal day. These three people have no idea what they have gotten themselves into. The three main protagonists of the story are three ordinary people living in Derry. Michael and Lily have an innocence about them, while Skinner is more sceptical and cynical. He realises the severity of the situation in which they find themselves whilst the other two remain blissfully unaware until it’s too late. Their presence is named an “occupation” which has fatal consequences for the three characters. It is presumed by the soldiers surrounding Guildhall that they have arms and that there is actually forty of them inside this “occupation”. This is very similar to the circumstances of “Bloody Sunday” whereby it was assumed that the protestors were carrying arms and so the soldiers opened
It is fair to say that the events of “Bloody Sunday” played a huge part in the writing of this play, and impacted the context of the play. The play itself revolves around three characters, Skinner, Michael and Lily all of whom are part of a civil rights march. From the opening of the play we know the fate of these characters, they are killed and we see them strewn lifelessly across the stage. We learn that these three peaceful marchers had made their way, mistakenly into the Mayor’s office in Guildhall. We learn that the protestors had been hit by tear gas and smoke and so they unsuspectingly make their way into Guildhall not realising how detrimental this will end up being. The innocence of these three protestors is an attempt at portraying the utter innocence of the victims of that fatal day. These three people have no idea what they have gotten themselves into. The three main protagonists of the story are three ordinary people living in Derry. Michael and Lily have an innocence about them, while Skinner is more sceptical and cynical. He realises the severity of the situation in which they find themselves whilst the other two remain blissfully unaware until it’s too late. Their presence is named an “occupation” which has fatal consequences for the three characters. It is presumed by the soldiers surrounding Guildhall that they have arms and that there is actually forty of them inside this “occupation”. This is very similar to the circumstances of “Bloody Sunday” whereby it was assumed that the protestors were carrying arms and so the soldiers opened